I'm in Musical Ecstasy Listening to Dire Straits "Communique"

Rough, languid, and soaring when you least expect it. Just had to share. I only have a musical experience this intense once every couple of years. (And no, my altered state has no chemical assistance.)

I remember listening to Robbie Robertson's first solo recording on headphones in the middle of the night, feeling every nerve in my body. I remember being transported in total darkness and almost hallucinating with "Dragonfly" (Jefferson Starship). And I remember visiting Presevation Hall in the 80's, and, just about to leave after two SRO sets, being offered a seat by the door (normally used by friends and family) within arm's reach of the band. The final set was as close to nirvana as I'll ever be in this life.

Anyway, I had to share. Can anyone relate?

I think I'll have to go pull that one out :D

and got a keepsake and a kiss.

But not quite as intense as you've described. One experience was with Radiohead's dreaded 'Amnesiac'. I started getting visuals and floating off into the void (no drugs). The first time listening to Jeff Buckley kind of transported me into an ethereal world. In fact, it somehow changed my life. Tim Buckley too, but not as intense. Then there's a lot of music that causes more subtle physical reactions, like the feeling of my mind being set free and soaring. Music is my drug of choice.

I've bi-passed the Dire Straits cd several times now at the library, but now I'm going to have to check it out.

because it's subtle. I've been in a musical wasteland the last few years. No new discoveries. Most current popular music is like a shot of novacaine. Will have to check out the Radiohead, Jeffy Buckley, and Tim Buckley recordings.

I have had supernormal sensory experiences from time to time. I mean, nothing mystical, but definitely floating above normality. Feel lucky to have experienced them:

- One Sunday afternoon I was out with my then-fiance looking at the Connecticut river, and everything looked like an Edward Hopper painting. The world was suffused with the sense of Americana. Atmospheric, spacious -- rays of light came down through the clouds and illuminated painted New England houses. Pat eventually got disgusted and said I had "retreated to the role of an observer."

- In college, at one point the colors in the Davidson College library seemed vibrant and about to burst. Lasted about an hour.

- One night in grad school, I had sex with my (then) wife in the evening and the orgasm lasted for 45 minutes. Never experience anything like it before or since.

- When I was 17 I was converted to Christianity by a very cool fellow camp counselor who had become a Pentecostal during the school year. Had several very intense experiences which are difficult to describe.

Anyway, didn't mean for this to be a navel-gazing thread, but it just seemed like the right time.

I've had similiar sensory experiences, most often in natural surroundings. In these instances, my senses get all scrambled up, meaning, I feel as though I am touching a tree with my eyes, or seeing a sound, etc. (Unfortunately, I've never had a 45 minute orgasm, jeez!) Everything is very lucid, and sharp. I think it has something to do with having all your focus in the present moment, or maybe it's just well-honed senses, or just being acutely aware of the play of light on different objects, or maybe something to do with transcending the the 5 senses by having a sense of the spiritual added into the mix. I don't even know if I'm making sense (no pun intended.)

but not all of us talk about it. Glad to hear your experiences, LM.

Makes me think of the Youngbloods' "Ride the Wind" with that wonderful lilting xylophone:

RIDE THE WIND LET YOUR DREAMS BLOW
EVERYBODY IN THE STREAM OF THE WIND FLOW
YOU WILL KNOW THE REASON WHY I RIDE THE WIND
RIDE THE WIND LEAVE YOUR MIND BEHIND
FEEL THE RUSH OF SUSPENDED TIME
THATS WHAT GETS YOU HIGH
AND THATS WHY I RIDE THE WIND

I SEE THEM COLORS FLASHING LIKE A RAINBOW
DIRNK THEM IN UNTIL YOUR SENSES OVERFLOW
AND YOU WILL FIND THAT YOU CAN GROW BY LETTING YOURSELF GO
COME ON PEOPLE LET IT GO
RIDE THE WIND LET YOUR DREAMS BLOW
PEOPLE YOU WILL FEEL ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
BE OPEN EYED AND OPEN UP WIDE EVERYBODY
COME ON COME ON COME ON YEAH
OH IT FEELS SO GOOD IT FEELS SO GOOD

Dire Straits is one of my all time favorite groups and I believe, without doubt, that Communique is their finest album. It's a perfect album. (Because, yeah, it was an album for me long before it was a CD! But it was the first Dire Straits I had to "replace" as a CD.)

in fact, I thought I was developing an odd obsession. So thank you.

And tomorrow when more people are online, I think I'll start a new thread on atered states of conciousness achieved without drugs. Got me to thinking, but it's after midnight here and it's buried in a specialized musical post.